Anna was breathing fast and she was grasping the edge of the sofa very tight.
In. Out.
In. Out.
In. Out.
Had Debbie really said what she just said?
Anna considered that she might be hallucinating, or dreaming. She felt slightly dizzy.
‘OK, now you’re breathing too much,’ said Debbie, reaching out to touch her. ‘It’s true, Anna. At last. Florence has been found.’
Anna had imagined this moment over and over again, and this was nothing like she thought and hoped it would be. She thought she would feel an overwhelming gush of relief, and joy. That wasn’t it at all. What she truly felt was an inner collapse, as if the ceiling had come down on her in an inner room. The effort to keep the ceiling up was over, so it fell in. Surprisingly, there wasn’t an opening above it to a sunny blue sky. There was another ceiling there. A new, different, higher one to keep up.
Anna was so grateful to have Debbie’s hand to hold on to, and she remembered that it was indeed she who had put a comforting hand on her shoulder in that stuffy little maternity suite all those years ago. She allowed her tears to come, and when they did fall down her cheek in huge plopping drops, quietly and constantly, Anna couldn’t stop them.
Debbie fished some tissues out of her bag, and said, as she handed them to Anna: ‘I asked if I could be the one to tell you, Anna. I wanted to share the good news with you, yes, but I also felt that you ought to know that I blame myself for what happened …’
‘What? Don’t be silly, it wasn’t your fault.’
‘No, it wasn’t my fault she was taken, but I think it was my fault she wasn’t found.’
‘What?’ said Anna. ‘Don’t blame yourself, Debbie, you all did your best …’ She was flummoxed.
‘No, Anna. I did not do my best. In fact, I can honestly say I think this might well have been the worst policing in my entire career.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘First off, we were all too quick to blame an entirely innocent group of people. We were narrow-minded. And prejudiced. Beyond belief.’
Anna tried to make sense of it all. ‘Hang on, are you saying she wasn’t with the Romanians?’
Debbie Cheese hesitated. ‘No, she wasn’t. We spent a great deal of time and resources trying to find, infiltrate and investigate that group, but they are itinerant, and extremely wary of us, so we never entirely got to the heart of it. We assumed she’d been handed on. Trafficked. Out of the country.’
‘You assumed?’
‘Yes. To our shame.’
‘Where was she? Where is she?’ Anna’s volume was rising.
‘She was taken by a woman called Hope Parker who was on the same ward as you. She had a stillborn child the same time as Florence was born. She took Florence on her way out of the hospital. It’s unbelievable that no one saw her.’
‘Oh my God. Has Florence been in London?’
‘That’s the thing. As part of the due process, and because she left the hospital around the right time, I … I went to visit Hope.’ Debbie hung her head and continued, ‘This is where I failed you, failed her, and I’m so sorry, Anna. So sorry. I went with a colleague and we searched the flat. There was no sign whatsoever. There was no … baby.’
‘Where was she?’
‘Apparently, the father took her out.’
‘He’s not the father!’ Anna snapped.
‘No. Sorry. Hope’s partner. He took the baby out.’
‘And you didn’t think to check him out?’
‘There was no reason—’
‘THERE WAS EVERY REASON!’
‘Yes, I know,’ Debbie agreed, ‘but really we were eliminating suspects, and there was absolutely no evidence of Florence there. And Hope was …’
‘WHAT?’ blurted Anna.
‘She was devastated from her own loss that very morning. It seemed unfair to be loading more misery on to her with accusations. She was … so sad, Anna.’
‘She had MY baby!’
‘Yes. She did.’
Anna’s mind was racing. ‘Has Florence lived here? All this time? Nearby?’
‘No, Florence’s home is in Bristol.’
‘Florence’s home is not in Bristol, Debbie, Florence’s home is here, with me!’ Anna cried.
‘Yes, Anna. I’m so sorry. I don’t really know the right words. She has been raised in Bristol.’
‘Is she all right?’ Anna muttered as she tried to stay calm. ‘Is she healthy? Has she been happy?’
‘Yes, I think so. Hope is a kind person, it seems, and they both came together to their local cop shop. Florence has only just found out, apparently, and she’s the one who encouraged Hope to hand herself in.’
‘Right,’ said Anna, wiping away tears and beginning to take it all in. ‘Does Julius know?’
‘Detective Inspector Thripshaw is with him right now,’ Debbie replied.
‘Have you seen her?’ Anna was desperate to know.
‘Yes. I have.’ Debbie saw that Anna was hungry for any information about her lost daughter, so she tried her hardest to furnish her with a description. ‘She’s extremely beautiful, very unusual and exotic; she was wearing bright-coloured things and had her hair up in a sort of big bow thing with a huge mass of curls coming out. Orange curls. And she has freckles, and a lovely happy face. She seems to be very bright. She was a bit nervous, understandably, and she is pretty protective about Hope. She doesn’t let go of her much. She’s worried about what’s going to happen. They both are. Oh, and you ought to know that she’s pregnant.’
Anna was shocked. ‘She is pregnant? She’s only seventeen! Oh my God.’
‘She seems fine with it. The dad-to-be was there. He seems fully on board.’
‘Is she called Florence still?’
‘No. Her name is Minnie.’
‘Minnie? Who is that? Minnie …?’ Anna rolled the name around in her mouth, trying to wrap some understanding around it. ‘OK, Minnie. She is Minnie.’
Julius: the News
Julius was holding forth at a small press dinner, in a private room at the Dorchester. He was in his
